The second annual Run For Berry fundraiser is being held in a different season from the first as a way, organizers hope, to bring awareness to incoming students of the dangers of domestic violence.

The 1K and 5K races start at 9 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 24, once again at the bell tower on the Northwest College campus.

“Last year we did it in April and we really wanted to hit incoming freshmen, returning students, just get the information that we want out, all of the education materials, at the beginning of the semester rather than at the end when they’re all leaving,” event co-chair Cori Siggins said.

She and co-chair Stacie Lange are part of Soroptimist of Powell, which is hosting the event alongside NWC. All funds raised above expenses will go toward the Berry Bryant Scholarship fund at the college.

Bryant, an 18-year-old freshman at Northwest College in 1996, was sexually assaulted and killed by a fellow student during the fall semester.

The cost is $20 to pre-register through Friday and $25 to register starting Saturday. Contestants ages 10 and under are free. Siggins said those who pre-register will be guaranteed to receive an event T-shirt.

The organizers are also looking for businesses to sponsor the event. For more information, to donate to the scholarship or to register, visit runforberry.com or email sipowellwy@gmail.com.

Lange said now is an especially important time to hold this event and have these conversations about domestic violence because, she said, domestic violence is up 40% in Powell, according to the Wyoming Division of Victim Services and Wyoming Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.

“One thing that I’m really trying to do is get out who Berry Bryant was and why we’re trying to honor her memory and prevent violence,” Lange said. “That’s our key mission for this is to get resources available to people and share the terminology of what is happening — grooming and sexting are happening in our community more prevalently and we want to make sure we are preventing that and getting information out to build awareness.”

Siggins said conversations about the issues are vital.

“it’s such a taboo topic that people don’t really want to talk about the fact that those things are happening in our community,” she said. “A lot of people think that most violence happens in big cities, which it does and we are super fortunate for it to not be as prevalent here, but it still does happen. Especially with social media, technology has made it so easy for predators in grooming and things like Snapchat just make everybody very easily accessible, especially our youth. So that’s a big thing. It’s just raising awareness through having conversations and education.”

The Berry Bryant Scholarship was created in 2021 in honor of the 25th anniversary of her death. The efforts to fund a legacy that would benefit NWC students was led by a couple of Berry’s high school classmates, and her mother was involved in developing the scholarship criteria, noted Northwest College Foundation Executive Director Shelby Wetzel.

The scholarship aims to help provide quality, affordable education for female Wyoming high school graduates who attend Northwest College. Applicants are required to complete the Federal Application for Free Financial Aid (FASFA) to document federally defined financial aid need. They must also demonstrate community involvement by having participated in high school and/or community activities and have a minimum GPA of 2.50 to receive an annual award, with a 2.50 GPA required for a second semester (midyear) disbursement. Lange said applicants can be traditional or nontraditional students.